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“In today’s climate of cuts in the arts and people agreeing themselves to drops in salaries, I think the Opera House board should take another look.”

The salaries were revealed in an annual report that the Royal Opera House (ROH) sends to the Charity Commission because most arts bodies are defined as charities to enable them to reclaim tax on gifts.

Although the two men are not mentioned by name, their salary bands are included in the report and the ROH did not deny that they were the two men concerned.

Ed Vaizey, the culture minister, acknowledged that the system needed to change.

He said: “There really must be full transparency for all publicly funded arts bodies.

“These are conversations we are now having about naming people within wage bands.”

The Arts Council, which gives the ROH £28 million a year, also called for more openness.

Alan Davey, its chief executive, said: “Anybody in receipt of significant public money should be transparent about the disclosure of their core funding costs.”

The ROH said it would be looking at the issue but insisted that the two salaries were justified after making international comparisons.